Pros:

Small, portable, handy, long battery life, simple featured phone with Bluetooth and Slam function FM radio and LED light, cost efficient pricing . It can be could secondary phone to your smartphone. Read my verdict to better idea

Cons:

LED light not powerful for flash light, no WIFI connectivity, bad camera for photography and video. Current market scenario to basic feature phone with no Whatsapp feature and T9 keyboard could be annoying if you are used to qwerty keyboard

Our Review

A simple feature phone for people, who are interested to talk, not chat and not avid social media person and are not interested in smartphone features.

by admin

Full Article

When HMD Global in MWC 2017 had announced that it is relaunching Nokia 3310 mobile feature phone everyone in press and people around globe wanted to know more about it and everyone went nostalgia about this particular model as 17 years back was one of the greatest phone – sturdy, reliable and very simple GMS technology feature phone.

HMD Global’s Nokia 3310 n closed packaged box – front view

HMD Global’s Nokia 3310 n closed back package shot

HMD Global’s Nokia 3310 when packaged opened with feature phone in transparent cover

HMD Global invited the press for the launch of Nokia 3310, Nokia 3, 5 and 6 on Wednesday, 14th June, 2017 at The Farm, Al Barari for Middle East launch, I was excited to see the phones and they gave us the Nokia 3310 and Nokia 3 for review and a gift.

HMD Global’s Nokia 3310 – Front

HMD Global’s Nokia 3310 – back

Design, build, performance:
It is similar to the old version of Nokia 3310 but slimmer with Dual Sim card slot with Size: 115.6 x 51 x 12.8 mm. With Screen size of QVGA 2.4 TFT colour screen and resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. One of the the Dual Sim Slot can be used as microSD slot which expands to 32GB of memory. This would be required as the internal memory is only having 16MB which majorly uses it for running the feature phone and you are left with only 1.5MB space.

Nokia 3310 It has dual MicroSIM card slot

Nokia 3310 – using a old microSIM card cut out for my Nano sim

Please note: Nokia 3310 uses microSIM card and so if you have nano SIM card, please make sure you have MicroSIM card sleeve or old card cutout like I have used it here.

So if you click 4-5 snaps using the 2mp camera which is really not great at current time, your memory would be full. Weight of the phone is 81 grams and has LED flash and if you remember the old Nokia 3310 due to this feature also got the nickname – flashlight phone. But off course in 2017 most of the smartphones has similar function. Feature phone can record videos but not at good under current market availability of smartphones.

Nokia 3310 LED light

The body of the phone is quite sturdy and tough like to old version and withstand drop upto 5 feet and chances it may open up but you can resemble the phone and use it again. The TFT screen is covered with plastic so it can withstand the drop and sudden falls. (Please note: that doesn’t mean to try to drop and test the phone on purpose. As Nokia has not claimed this phone to be unbreakable). It is not water proof or water resistant but can take care of water splash with on the spot wiping the feature phone.

Screenshot of Nokia 3310 using Bluetooth

Transferring image from Nokia 3310 to another phone

Sending image via Bluetooth on Nokia 3310

Images sent via bluetooth- Nokia 3310

The T9 keyboard on the new Nokia 3310 is feels little different from the old one and D-pad for navigation is an improvement over the single axis scroll buttons, so you can quickly get to the assigned shortcut Apps to each four direction keys.
Compared to the old Nokia 3310 colors which usually was grey or dark blue phones, HMD Global has come out with 4 different colors – Warm Red (Glossy), Dark Blue (Matte), Yellow (Glossy), Grey (Matte).

Snake game on Nokia 3310

Snake game on Nokia 3310

Snake game on Nokia 3310

The New Nokia 3310 has famous Snake game in colour which bring lot of nostalgia memories but I felt the old simple black and white screen snake had its charm but who loves that game can play and relish his memory. It comes also with pre-loaded games demos, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline and Diamond Twister 2 or download a limited collection of java games from the Apps and Games store.

HMD Global’s Nokia 3310 – 3.5mm ear phone jack

HMD Global’s Nokia 3310 – microUSB port

It has 3.5mm jack which is useful for hands free calling or listen to the FM Radio. It has polyphonic ringtones, Bluetooth connectivity which can also be used for sharing data. It has MicroUSB pin at the top for charging the phone and transfer of data.

Nokia 3310 works on Nokia series 30+operating system

The phone works on Nokia series 30+ operating system which comes from Mediatek. The phone UI comes along with Opera Mini browser and pre-loaded with stripped down version of Facebook, Twitter, Google and you can add your mail too but without Wi-Fi or 3g/ 4g connection it runs very slow. It doesn’t support WhatsApp that was a disappointment. Only way to communicate is via SMS app for messaging.
In the menu you will find apps like Photos, Music Player, Opera Mobile Store, Calendar, Weather, Calculator, FM Radio, Voice Recorder, and Snake game.

One the interesting thing in Nokia 3310 is the battery which is only 1200mAh but stand by time up to 744hours, talk time 22hours and if you want to play music it can hear it for 51hours.

Image sample clicked with Nokia 3310 camera

Image sample clicked with Nokia 3310 camera

Image sample clicked with Nokia 3310 camera

Now coming to camera Nokia 3310 is not worth talking about it as I have tried to click snaps with looking into the 2.4 screen and trying to focus on the object with the maximum stability and still could not get a proper sharp image. I didn’t even think of trying the video as I know HMD is not selling these phone for the camera.

Switching off Nokia 3310

Another factor which makes this phone interesting is the price AED199 (Official launch price in UAE). No doubt you may have other brand choice to buy basic version smartphones phones in this range but as Nokia brand and colors makes it better choice of value feature phone.

Verdict:
It can be very good standby secondary phone for people who need to be continuously connected, especially if you are traveler and have multiple sim cards and don’t want to open your smartphone and change the sim card or even don’t want to switch off your current smartphone network but would like to use a local Sim for temporary for few days in that country. Or you can carry it as emergency phone in your bag pack.
This phone also make sense for people who just wants a phone for making calls and sometime need to send SMS. Especially I have been asked phone recommendation for elderly people and their main criteria is to make calls and not interested in social media. They have problem with touch screen phones which has break, mistakenly dialing phone numbers in the pocket as they have not locked the screen. They have problems on dialing on screen keypad as they can’t feel the keypad numbers. This can be good phone for them as it is simple to use. Specifically, they are comfortable with phones which they are used to 7-10 years’ back. It can also be used to lend to you relatives and friends when they come to visit you in your country and who want just a phone to stay connected.
Also Nokia 3310 is quite sturdy and can take drops and not crack as the plastic curved design helps to absorb the shock and with the new design, it can with stand water splash up to certain extent. (Please do not try this on purpose as it is not water resistant or water proof phone)